1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to networks.
2. Related Art
Network systems are commonly used to move network information (may also be referred to interchangeably, as frames, packets or commands) between computing systems (for example, servers) or between computing systems and network devices (for example, storage systems). Various hardware and software components are used to implement network communication, including switches.
A switch is typically a multi-port device where each port manages a point-to-point connection between itself and an attached system. Each port can be attached to a server, peripheral, input/output subsystem, bridge, hub, router, or another switch. The term network switch as used herein includes a Multi-Level switch that uses plural switching elements within a single switch chassis to route data packets.
A switch may use a tag to describe a packet that is received at a port. Typically, a tag is generated for each packet that is received at the port. When multiple tags are waiting to be processed, an arbitration scheme is used to select a tag from among the multiple tags that may be waiting at any given time for processing. Efficient processing of tags is desirable for efficient network communication.